In materials testing, it is often useful to measure various temperature properties of a test material. For example, in wind tunnel testing, researchers often measure the effects of various pressure and force conditions in relation to the temperature of the test material. Specifically, determining the average surface temperature of a particular portion of the test material is often very helpful. Prior methods for determining the average surface temperature include tack welding a thermocouple to the back of the test material. However, such a method is ineffective with thick materials (greater than approximately 3/8 inch) and materials with poor thermal conductivity because of undesirable temperature gradients. Moreover, some materials such as nickel are difficult to tack weld if thick. In addition, some other materials such as aluminum are impossible to tack weld, regardless of thickness.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a device for measuring the average surface temperature of relatively thick test materials.
It is a further object of this invention to perform the above object in a high speed wind tunnel or in any other situation where protrusions beyond the test surface are undesirable.
It is a further object of this invention to perform the above objects of this invention with a wide variety of test materials.
It is a further object of the invention to accomplish the above objects quickly, simply, and inexpensively.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent hereinafter in the specification and drawings which follow.